3:The Corruption of Perfection
by Pip the Bat
Summary: When a hedgehog rescues Sonic's chao from a watery grave, the two wind up leaving Knothole to undertake a quest more dangerous than they could have imagined ... Crazy killer androids, psycho robots, new friends and a dangerous journey. Yep, it's a longer


The Corruption of Perfection.
    
    By Pip the Bat.
    
     
    
    "Everyone has a choice." -- Citras
    
    _______________________________
    
    Sonic, Tails and related characters are copyright to Sega.
    
    Citras, Pip and related characters are copyright to me,
    
    Pip the Bat. Slasher and Serena are copyright to NetRaptor.
    
    Used with permission.
    
    _______________________________
    
     
    
    The water sparkled in the sunlight, vague shapes 
    
    shimmering within its depths. A few feet away the stream 
    
    broadened out somewhat before becoming a roaring, frothing 
    
    waterfall.
    
    Lying at the edge of the stream was a brightly coloured 
    
    yellowy green hedgehog, his head propped up by a log. His 
    
    spikes stuck up high and had metal tips as did his ears and 
    
    tail. On each arm he had a metal strip fastened about his 
    
    elbow with a spike protruding. On his forehead there was a 
    
    small purple triangle. He wore a purple bomber jacket and 
    
    steel rimmed knee caps. His shoes were white with black ends 
    
    and silver lace clasps.
    
    As he lay there, there came sounds from further 
    
    downstream. First his ears pricked up and dismissed it as 
    
    unimportant, but at a shrill yelp, he opened his eyes and 
    
    lifted his head to have a look.
    
    Two small creatures, chao, were fighting with each 
    
    other. He didn't have much of a chance to see what they 
    
    looked like, because at that moment one of them fell into 
    
    the water with a splash and was dragged under by the fast 
    
    flowing current, surfacing once more a short distance from 
    
    where he'd fallen in, gasping and panting. Then the current 
    
    caught him once more, dragging him over the waterfall.
    
    He hit the bottom of the collective lake with another 
    
    small splash, but was forced underwater by the force of the 
    
    falls. It was quite clear that the little creature could 
    
    not swim.
    
    The other chao looked half worried and half triumphent. 
    
    He was red, with long, cat like ears, small golden wings and 
    
    a darker mark down the centre of his head. The back of his 
    
    head was also darker. He gave the drowning chao a nervous 
    
    glance, then turned and ran off.
    
    Guessing that he wasn't going to be much help, the 
    
    hedgehog took matters into his own hands. Springing to his 
    
    feet, he took a few paces back then, with a sudden burst of 
    
    speed, ran up to the edge and sprang off, changing his posture 
    
    into that of a graceful dive.
    
    There was a splash, louder than the one made by the 
    
    chao as he hit the water. Surfacing almost immidiately, he 
    
    looked round for the chao. There he was. He struck out 
    
    swiftly towards it, hoping that he'd get to it in time. As 
    
    he came within reach of it, he stretched out one hand and 
    
    snatched it out of the water as it was about to go under again.
    
    He let out his breath slowly [he hadn't even realised 
    
    he'd been holding it] and began to swim back to the shore, the 
    
    roaring of the waterfall still pounding in his ears. When he 
    
    reached there he layed the chao on the bank above him before 
    
    pulling himself out of the water and checking its tiny pulse. 
    
    Yes, luckily it still had one.
    
    It was a blue chao with spikes and ears that made it 
    
    look rather like a hedgehog. The stranger rather liked chao 
    
    and would love to have one of his own. Actually, he wasn't 
    
    sure if anyone COULD really hate them. A thought traced itself 
    
    across his brain: What about the truly evil, huh? What about...
    
    There was movement in the bushes near him and he 
    
    looked up to see another hedghog, a blue one, which the 
    
    prone chao resembled. The yellowy green hedgehog didn't know 
    
    it, but this was Sonic.
    
    "Who are you?" he asked, then, seeing the chao: "Axel! 
    
    Is he okay? What happened to him? I've been trying to find 
    
    him for ages." He knelt down by the chao.
    
    "Yeah, he should be okay. He was having this fight with 
    
    another chao, one who looked something like a red cat. The 
    
    other chao pushed him and he... fell down the falls." Sonic 
    
    didn't seem to notice his pun as he was too busy checking 
    
    over Axel. "I dived in and saved him."
    
     "There's no chao like that at Knothole," Sonic said,
    
     thoughtfully. "And they're all back there right now anyway. 
    
    So," he added, picking up his chao and turning back to the 
    
    other. "Who are you then?"
    
    "Citras. Who're you?"
    
    "Sonic." There was a moment's awkward silence in which 
    
    they both took each other's appearences in at a glance, and 
    
    wondered what to say next. "Well, thanks for saving Axel. Do 
    
    you want to, uh, come back to Knothole then."
    
    Citras hesitated for a moment then shrugged. "Sure, why 
    
    not."
    
    Little did Sonic know that he was going to regret 
    
    inviting Citras back with him.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    As soon as he stepped inside the village, Citras a 
    
    few steps behind him, Tails came rushing up. "Hey Sonic, 
    
    can I show you my new part I made for the Tornado--" He 
    
    broke off, seeing the stranger behind Sonic. "Who's that?"
    
    "I'm Citras," said the green hedgehog, quickly.
    
    Tails stared at him, and Sonic didn't like the look 
    
    in his eye; it was one of admiration, reserved usually only 
    
    for Sonic himself.
    
    The other chao came hurrying across to them. "Is Axel 
    
    okay Sonic?" asked Bik, in a buisness-like fashion.
    
    "Yeah, he's fine thanks. Citras here rescued him."
    
    They exchanged looks, and Sonic was displeased to see 
    
    the same look in their eyes as in Tails's.
    
    "You're a hansome bunch of chao," remarked Citras, 
    
    cheerfully.
    
    "Yes," agreed Peppi, self conciously, and Tropican 
    
    stepped on his foot hard.
    
    "Do you want me to show you around a little," asked 
    
    Tails, hopefully. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw 
    
    Serena, his sister coming along. He perked up. Serena 
    
    wouldn't be so stupid as the others... but as soon as she 
    
    saw Citras, Serena's eyes seemed to refocus in the now 
    
    familiar way and she opened her mouth to say something.
    
    "Don't forget you autograph book, will you?" snapped 
    
    Sonic, and stalked off. The worst of it was that nobody 
    
    noticed him go. They're all acting like they're on some 
    
    stupid television soap, he thought, angrily. What's so 
    
    special about Citras?
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Sonic hated the next few days; there was one thing 
    
    he had overlooked about Citras when he had first met him, 
    
    namely his attitude and aura. He was popular and clever 
    
    not to mention good looking. Citras was rapidly becoming 
    
    the centre of attention, appearing to be good at anything 
    
    he turned his hand to, without fault.
    
    Sonic complained bitterly to Serena about him. "I 
    
    wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be the world's 
    
    best flyer instead of turning into paté if he took a notion 
    
    to superglue a pair of wings to his arms and jump off a 
    
    cliff," he said, a slight sulky tone to his voice, which 
    
    he detested.
    
    She looked at him, surprised. "But Citras is really 
    
    nice!" she protested. "You're just jealous of him."
    
    "No I'm not," Sonic snapped back. But he was.
    
    It reminded him of when Spike had first shown up at 
    
    Knothole. Only, since it was happening in the present and 
    
    not in the past, a whole lot worse. He was begining to feel 
    
    really left out of everything; Serena even forgot to 
    
    include him in an outing one day.
    
    She apologised at once of course, but it annoyed Sonic 
    
    no end, and when asked if he'd like to come along, he flatly 
    
    refused. To his surprise, he found that Citras had declined 
    
    his invitation too.
    
    When the others had left, Sonic watched him walk out 
    
    of the village. Curious, he followed him. He found him 
    
    sitting on the stream bank, much further up from where he'd 
    
    been the day before, swinging his legs and gazing into space.
    
    Suddenly, the jealousy seemed to drain from Sonic, and 
    
    he flopped himself down next to him. "What's up dreamer?"
    
    Citras glanced at him, surprised. "Nothing. I was just 
    
    thinking." He gave Sonic a slightly shy smile. "Look, I'm 
    
    sorry about what I've done. I didn't mean for everyone to 
    
    act like that over my... problem."
    
    "Problem?"
    
    "I'm perfect." His voice sounded bitter.
    
    "Nobody's perfect," answered Sonic, confused by the 
    
    other's reply.
    
    Citras hesitated for a moment. "Can I tell you 
    
    something? It's a big, big secret. You'd have to promise not 
    
    to tell anyone else."
    
    "Of course." Sonic was more than a little interested 
    
    by now.
    
    "I'm a android." Sonic opened his mouth to say 
    
    something, he didn't know what, but Citras raised a hand, 
    
    cutting him short. "There was this scientist, you see, who 
    
    wanted to create the perfect beings. So to do that, he made 
    
    a bunch of androids, perfect in every detail, great at 
    
    everything and no slouches in the looks department.
    
    "But that wasn't good enough for him. He had to do 
    
    better. Have you heard of the Gemstones, Sonic?" Sonic did; 
    
    in his last not so fun adventure he had had with Pip, the 
    
    Mecha bot, Tails and Marina [who preferred to be know as 
    
    Spines], the porcupine, he had had more to do with them than 
    
    he had ever wanted to. Nightshade, the werewolf cat had 
    
    tried to kill them all, with help from his Gemstone of 
    
    Control but had been thought to die himself in the end. 
    
    Pip owned one too, the Gemstone of Hope.
    
    "There's three isn't there?" he ventured.
    
    Citras nodded. "That's right. No one knows where Hope 
    
    and Control are, but he had managed to get his hands on the 
    
    Gemstone of Oblivion, the black sheep of the stones. It 
    
    takes over the one who weilds it, turning them totally evil."
    
    "They don't have a choice?"
    
    "Everybody has a choice." A deep look of regret and 
    
    sadness passed over Citras's face, but he quickly controlled 
    
    it and hurried on. "Anyway, he had got the Gemstone of 
    
    Oblivion, and he took one of the androids, and inserted it 
    
    into her brain."
    
    Sonic thought he heard a faint quaver in his voice 
    
    as he said the last few words. Not normally particually 
    
    perceptive, he surprised himself by saying: "You like her, 
    
    don't you?"
    
    "Yes. She was called Lena, a lynx. And... I did love 
    
    her." He sounded almost lost as he spoke.
    
    "Was? Did she die?"
    
    "No, no, she's still alive. Or at least something 
    
    is. She killed the scientist and the other androids in 
    
    an explosion. Only I escaped; I was on a walk at the time. 
    
    Thinking. I've been hiding out in this forest for a while. 
    
    I'm worried though. I don't know what she's planning but 
    
    she's capable of anything now, both beautiful and deadly."
    
    Sonic sat, rivited. "Do you know where she is?"
    
    "I could find out."
    
    They both thought for a few minutes. "We could... 
    
    y'know... see if we could find her..." Sonic said, 
    
    cautiously.
    
    Citras nodded, he was thinking the same thing. 
    
    "Let's go back to base," he said smiling at his friend. 
    
    "And make some plans."
    
    As they walked off, a still figure hanging off one 
    
    of the higher branches of an ancient oak murmered. "Thank 
    
    you Sonic and friend. Lena and the Gemstone of Oblivion 
    
    are mine." It detached itself from the tree and flew off 
    
    into the woodland.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Citras's eyes snapped open. "I know her location." He 
    
    shook himself slightly and said, self consciously: "I mean I 
    
    know where she is." He looked a little embarrassed at his 
    
    first choice of words.
    
    "Cool. Where?" Sonic was impressed. Citras had been 
    
    using his inside programming to locate Lena. She was the 
    
    only person he'd be able to do it for since they were the 
    
    only two of the 'perfect' androids left, but they were 
    
    grateful for it.
    
    "Mobius Grand Canyon. That's..." He paused, trying 
    
    to work it out. "A long way away from here," he concluded 
    
    finally.
    
    "We'll need to get kitted up I guess. I'll go and 
    
    forage some supplies and stuff too. Not too much though, 
    
    we don't want to be weighed down. And we'd better leave a 
    
    note for the others. We don't want them worrying about us 
    
    as they'll be back in a day or two and we certainly won't."
    
    As they talked they walked down to the supply and 
    
    equipment stores.
    
    "I can tell you've done stuff like this before," 
    
    said Citras, grinning at him.
    
    "You have no idea," Sonic replied, rooting through 
    
    the equipment and deciding what to take. "Hold the 
    
    backpacks open will you." Citras obliged and Sonic stuffed 
    
    handfuls of equipment and supplies into each, not very 
    
    tidily.
    
    They both looked at it for a moment, then together 
    
    they neatened his hasty packing up, scribbled a quick 
    
    note and departed, swinging their backpacks onto their 
    
    shoulders as they went.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Sonic and Citras tramped cheerfully through the forest, 
    
    conversing in loud, friendly tones. If they'd stopped to 
    
    think, they would have realized how stupid it was, but they 
    
    didn't expect to run into danger so soon. But danger expected 
    
    to run into them.
    
    As they walked on, they both began to shoot nervous 
    
    glances at the surrounding shrubbery. They had the feeling 
    
    that somebody was watching them. There was a faint whisper 
    
    in the trees they had just passed, and they jerked their 
    
    heads round to look, while their feet speeded up.
    
    "Do you get the feeling we're being followed?" Sonic 
    
    asked Citras cautiously. Before he could reply however, 
    
    another voice answered in his stead.
    
    "And have been for the last hour or so. Y'know, if 
    
    you get any more astute, I might even think you've got a 
    
    brain."
    
    They turned their heads back to the path before them, 
    
    stopping dead. Leaning casually against a tree, with her arms 
    
    folded and her legs crossed over, was a bat. A robot bat. On 
    
    her shoulder was a small red chao.
    
    "That's the chao who pushed Axel into the stream," 
    
    Citras whispered to Sonic, spotting the chao at the same time 
    
    as his friend. Sonic gritted his teeth, torn between giving 
    
    the chao a piece of his mind or not commiting suicide.
    
    "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" 
    
    the robot said to Sonic, who looked a little uncertain and 
    
    apprehensive.
    
    "Uh... Pip-Citras, Citras-Pip."
    
    Citras, obviously unsure what to say due to the 
    
    circumstances, came out with "Um, charmed I'm sure."
    
    Pip looked amused. "Tickled pink, I'm sure," she 
    
    said, mimicking Citras's voice perfectly, without a fault. 
    
    "This is Heat," she added. "My chao." There was a faint note 
    
    of pride in her voice.
    
    "Hiya," said Heat, looking a little amused too.
    
    "Like owner, like chao," muttered Sonic, under his 
    
    breath.
    
    Citras was aware of a tension in the air between Sonic 
    
    and Pip. Sonic wasn't sure what Pip wanted; sometimes she 
    
    would almost be willing to help them, like the last time 
    
    they had met, but others she was more than willing to devise 
    
    cruel and unusual deaths for him. Like the other times. Pip 
    
    just didn't like Sonic much.
    
    "And where are you going on this fine day?" she 
    
    enquired, the picture of innocence.
    
    Sonic was on his guard at once. Citras, who didn't 
    
    know Pip in the slightest, opened his mouth to reply, but 
    
    Sonic kicked him so hard in the shins he yelped out loud, 
    
    screwing up his eyes in pain. "Oh," he managed, realising 
    
    that Sonic didn't think Pip's question was at face value. 
    
    Pip glared at him.
    
    "Tell me!" she said, impatiently.
    
    "Why do you want to know?" asked Sonic, his mind 
    
    racing. He was wondering whether or not he and Citras could 
    
    out-run the robot. He was fairly sure that he could beat 
    
    her just running, but he knew she was a very fast flyer... 
    
    and he wasn't sure how fast Citras could run, come to that, 
    
    he'd just assumed that he was good at that too.
    
    "Just the location of Lena, an android like your 
    
    friend Citras, who, most unfortunately, has the Gemstone 
    
    of Oblivion lodged in her brain," she remarked nonculently, 
    
    examining the silver tips of her metal hand. "Did I miss 
    
    anything?"
    
    Citras looked stunned. "How did you know?" he 
    
    blurted out.
    
    "Well, mon ami, walls may have ears but I certainly do."
    
    "We're not going to tell YOU," snapped Sonic, taking 
    
    an unconcious step backwards. In response, Pip casually 
    
    raised her arm so that it was pointing straight at Citras's 
    
    chest. Citras didn't even seem to notice, but then again he 
    
    didn't know what Sonic did; there were concealed lasers in 
    
    Pip's wrists. Sonic didn't see what else he could do but 
    
    tell her. Unless... "Alright, alright. She's in Rainbow 
    
    City."
    
    "Merci, mon ami." Pip shot off like an arrow from a 
    
    bow, Heat almost falling from his perch on her shoulder.
    
    "Citras gave Sonic a puzzled look. "What the heck 
    
    was that all about, exactly? And who was she?"
    
    "Pip's a Mecha bot, really annoying type of robot. 
    
    She's pretty good at speed and combat skills I suppose." 
    
    He sounded reluctant to admit the fact. "But she's the 
    
    most guillable person I've ever come across. If I'd told 
    
    her that Lena was on another planet and we were just nipping 
    
    along to get our spaceship she'd probably have believed me. 
    
    Oh yeah, and she's always willing to help."
    
    "Willing to help?"
    
    "Yeah, just the wrong people." He paused. It might be a 
    
    good idea to get moving though. She won't be too happy when 
    
    she finds out I lied." Their footfalls became considerably 
    
    faster.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    It was late evening and they decided to camp down for 
    
    the night on a small hill. It was quite warm so they decided 
    
    to do so without using a tent, wrapping blankets round them 
    
    and lying on their backs watching the stars.
    
    Sonic had fallen asleep, and Citras was about to drop 
    
    off too, when he heard a blood-curdling growl from a nearby 
    
    clump of bushes. He froze, not even daring to breathe. After 
    
    a moment he relaxed a little, but not entirely. In his 
    
    wanderings he had learned to trust to his instinct. It had 
    
    helped him to survive so far, after all.
    
    "Sonic," he whispered, shaking his friend.
    
    "Uhn?" Sonic drowsily lifted his head to look at him.
    
    "Sonic, something is out there."
    
    Sonic groaned and tried to snuggle back into his sheets. 
    
    "You've been watching too many X-Files episodes, Citras."
    
    "Sonic!" The growl came again and Sonic fairly flew 
    
    out of his blanket, looking from left to right. "That's 
    
    what I mean. What do you think it could be?"
    
    "Dunno," Sonic replied, sounding worried. At that 
    
    moment, a dark shape slunk out of the bushes, padding 
    
    softly towards them. A few feet away, it stopped and sniffed 
    
    the air. The growl emmited from it's throat once more.
    
    They could now see that it was an animal, a panther, 
    
    with long dark stripes down it's forehead, sharp curved 
    
    claws and glittering purple eyes. It looked at them as a 
    
    predator looks at it's prey. And pounced.
    
    The two of them scattered in opposite directions, Sonic 
    
    tripping over his sheets and knocking both of them to the 
    
    floor. They began to roll down the hillside, yelping and 
    
    owching over the bumpy parts, thorns tearing at them from 
    
    the bushes all around. With one final yell they landed in 
    
    the most prickily bush of them all and lay still.
    
    There was the sound of padding feet behind them and 
    
    they looked up to see the panther looking down at them, 
    
    curiously. They gulped but knew better than to move. Neither 
    
    of them knew it, but the panther was debating whether of not 
    
    to risk getting torn to pieces by the thorns by going after 
    
    his prey. Luckily for the two hedehogs, self presevation won 
    
    the battle and he turned and padded away once more.
    
    Citras groaned from the dissolved tension and his head 
    
    slumped backwards onto Sonic and the merciless thorns in 
    
    relief. But they didn't dare to leave the bush until morning.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    When they retraced their undignified path from the 
    
    night back up to their camp, they found most of their 
    
    equipment scattered about and no food left at all. They 
    
    guessed the panther must have eaten it. Still, however 
    
    annoyed it made them, they were glad that it had been their 
    
    food rather than themselves. Although they would have to 
    
    see if they could find some more food soon, otherwise they 
    
    might die anyway, from starvation.
    
    Wearily, they repacked their backpacks and trudged off 
    
    once more; they could not risk staying there another night,
    
    considering the ration problem and the fact that the panther 
    
    might decide to come back for his forgotten meal.
    
    After more than fifteen miles had been put between 
    
    them and the hill and it was growing dark, Citras nudged 
    
    Sonic hard in the ribs, pointing. Ahead of them, just above 
    
    the trees, they could see smoke spiraling into the air. It 
    
    reminded them of a campfire, which in turn reminded them 
    
    of their empty stomachs.
    
    "Should we have a look?" asked Sonic, cautiously. 
    
    "It could be someone with a lot of food and a kindly 
    
    disposition towards starving travelers."
    
    They both laughed, but a voice from the trees ahead 
    
    spoke out, silencing them. "It's just your luck you cheeky 
    
    young whippersnapper that we ARE kindly people with food 
    
    to spare. Come on over."
    
    "Cheeky young whippersnapper?" Sonic whispered to 
    
    Citras, looking hurt. "Me?"
    
    Citras grinned at him. "Well, I guess there's nothing 
    
    to do but oblige, cheeky whippersnapper." He ran towards 
    
    the clearing and Sonic followed, pretending to be angry 
    
    with him. When they reached it they saw an old greyish fox 
    
    and a younger, very large and muscular polar bear sitting 
    
    around a small crackling fire which glowed and sparked in 
    
    the non-light.
    
    "Hi," said Sonic, falteringly.
    
    "Hello," remarked the fox, cheerfully. They realised 
    
    from his voice that it was he who had been talking before. 
    
    "And who are you then?"
    
    "I'm Sonic and this is Citras." Then, feeling as if 
    
    more was expected of him, he tore his eyes away from the 
    
    delicious looking food and said: "We're from Knothole. Well, 
    
    at least I am. Citras is our guest there; he's a wanderer."
    
    "Welcome to our camp, Sonic of Knothole and Citras the 
    
    Wanderer," said the fox. "My name is Barq and my great 
    
    friend here is called Earf.
    
    "Unfortunately, he cannot speak. He was hurt 
    
    grievously by a group of robots once in an effort to protect 
    
    me. I am unfortunately too old to defend myself from such 
    
    enemies as those. His vocal chords were damaged and he has 
    
    not uttered one single word since; he only roars and uses 
    
    normal animal noises, which is a good sign that he might be 
    
    recovering."
    
    The polar bear inclined his head as his friend spoke, 
    
    as if asserting the story's truth. At the end he grunted, 
    
    and smiled at the two hedgehogs, overwhelming them with a 
    
    feeling of great strength and power, which they had only 
    
    previously felt from Slasher. They were both over-awed by 
    
    him. Sonic and Citras took an immidiate liking to the fox, 
    
    with his strange, almost poetical ways of talking and the 
    
    strong, silent polar bear. 
    
    Barq opened his mouth to say something else, but at 
    
    that moment his ears pricked up and a second later they 
    
    heard it too, the sound of running footsteps. A figure burst 
    
    in from the side of the clearing, moving so fast they could 
    
    hardly see what it was, and slammed into Sonic's side with 
    
    such force he thought he heard a rib crack, knocking him to 
    
    the ground a few feet from where he had been standing.
    
    He hit the ground rolling, coming to a stop face down 
    
    on the ground. He was not given one second for retaliation 
    
    however, as the creature hit him again and again, yelling: 
    
    "You LIED, you LIED!" Then he recognised the voice; it was 
    
    Pip, fairly crazed with rage. He managed to roll over and 
    
    saw her eyes burning with a vengeful fire. Then she was on 
    
    top of him, kicking and punching and tearing. He couldn't 
    
    fight back, he was going to die, he was going to DIE...
    
    Suddenly, the weight was gone. Looking up, he saw Pip 
    
    sent flying across the clearing by another heavy blow from 
    
    Earf. She was very strong, but she was also lightweight. 
    
    The polar bear followed up by pinning Pip against the tree 
    
    with one arm, roaring deep within his throat. Pip made a 
    
    sound like 'urk', but then lashed out with one foot, hitting 
    
    him hard across his neck. He let out a bellow of pain letting 
    
    go of her. The robot hit the ground running and, using 
    
    descression as the better part of valour, ran out of the 
    
    clearing full tilt, almost as fast as she had arrived.
    
    Earf pursued her for some way, but Barq called to him 
    
    and he returned, growling. He then walked over to Sonic, who 
    
    hadn't the strength to move, picked him up almost tenderly 
    
    and lay him down next to the fire. Citras hovered nearby, 
    
    looking concerned.
    
    "He will be fine soon, after he has had some of our 
    
    nourishing broth," Barq informed him, studying Sonic 
    
    closely. "Do not fret yourself, Citras the Wanderer."
    
    Citras nodded and squatted down next to the other 
    
    three, hoping that the ancient fox was right. He was passed 
    
    a wooden bowl, filled with a browny-grey substance, halfway 
    
    between solidity and being a liquid. It didn't look that 
    
    appertising close too, he thought. Still, wanting to be 
    
    polite, he tried a tentative spoonful. His eyes closed in 
    
    happiness; it was delicious, showing that its looks were 
    
    nothing to go by. After a few spoonfuls, it dawned on him 
    
    how tired he was. Before he'd even realised it, his eyes 
    
    had closed and he had fallen asleep, his head lolling onto 
    
    Earf's side. The polar bear smiled, and stroked the 
    
    sleeping hedgehog into an even deeper, luxurious sleep.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Heat moved slowly and stealthily through the woodland. 
    
    He was looking for his master and owner, Pip, who had left 
    
    him behind to keep an eye on Sonic and Citras while she went 
    
    to Rainbow City. It was he who had told her that Sonic had 
    
    lied, rather than just made a mistake, as she had been 
    
    inclined to believe at first. For Lena had been in Rainbow 
    
    City, leaving her mark rather throughly, but was there no 
    
    longer. It had just been luck that Sonic had said the place 
    
    where she'd just been. Pip had flown off in a rage, but he 
    
    knew she'd since come back from chasing the hedgehogs.
    
    There she was. He watched as she lay down in the bracken 
    
    and twigs, trying to snuggle up and find the cosiest postion, 
    
    as any normal Mobian would. A wave of sadness passed over him; 
    
    she was not yet completely used to being a robot and was still 
    
    retaining some characteristics of normal animals. He was not 
    
    usually given to regret, but for some reason this touched him 
    
    deep down.
    
    Not many people had seen the robot like this, when she 
    
    was seen in her true state. He looked for a long time, trying 
    
    to figure out what it could be. Finally, he realised he could 
    
    settle on nothing but a child-like loneliness and innocence. 
    
    Pip, he knew, had never been loved or cared for apart from her 
    
    brief time at Knothole. Even when she was very, very young she 
    
    had been abandoned by her parents, for reasons she still did 
    
    not know. And yet she was still cheerful and believed that 
    
    everyone was nice deep inside, if not on the top. He just 
    
    didn't get it.
    
    Pip shifted position softly, sheilding her face from 
    
    view. Heat decided that his information could wait until 
    
    the morning, and quietly lay down by her side.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Like Barq had predicted, Sonic was fine in the morning. 
    
    At an early hour, he was jumping about, feeling ready to take 
    
    on the world, meeting the other's tired groans as he tried to 
    
    wake them.
    
    "We'd better get going," said Citras to Barq, once they 
    
    had finally risen. "She'll probably be after us if we stay 
    
    much longer."
    
    "I'm sorry that we can't come with you," said Barq, 
    
    regretfully. "You have not told us yet, where are you going? 
    
    Or would you prefer not to tell us?"
    
    The two explained about their journey, each interupting 
    
    the other every time they thought they had missed a bit out, 
    
    or not explained it fully enough. Barq and Earf listened 
    
    carefully, not saying anything until they had finished.
    
    "Yes," said Barq, and there was anger in his tone. 
    
    "I've heard of her. She's killed some people in Rainbow 
    
    City, for no reason at all apparently. And that's just one 
    
    of several similar cases. I wish you luck, Sonic of 
    
    Knothole and Citras the Wanderer."
    
    They parted, Barq and Earf insisting on them taking 
    
    half of their provisions. After realising they couldn't 
    
    be dissuaded, Sonic and Citras accepted the food gratefully 
    
    before hiking on, waving over their shoulders to their 
    
    friends. Earf watched them out of sight, a wistful smile 
    
    on his face, waving his large white half hand, half paw. 
    
    Barq waved too, quite vigorously for an old fox.
    
    "Let's hope that everyone's that nice, Sonic of 
    
    Knothole." Citras grinned at Sonic, who returned it. 
    
    They had not wanted to say anything about the names that 
    
    Barq had given them in front of him, but they had thought 
    
    them very funny.
    
    "Yeah, not wanting to eat us like that panther, huh?"
    
    "Nu-uh." They walked briskly on for a while, before 
    
    Citras, who was on the alert for anything strange or 
    
    dangerous, said "What's that?" and pointed out a small 
    
    green blade of grass sticking out onto the path, a 
    
    different colour from the rest.
    
    The blade of grass moved, whipping behind some 
    
    ferns. They moved closer. Suddenly, a large fanged 
    
    mouth whipped up; the mouth of a snake. Sonic leapt 
    
    backwards with surprise, landing hard on Citras's 
    
    foot. He winced, and backed away, pulling Sonic with him.
    
    The snake swayed it's head from side to side, 
    
    hissing. "Have you ever dealt with a snake before?" 
    
    Citras asked Sonic without turning round.
    
    "No, but I think Knux got into fight with a 
    
    basilisk once. He killed it too, with a lance or something."
    
    "Unfortunately though it's easier to hit something 
    
    that big. With a normal snake it's just too thin, not to 
    
    mention we haven't got any weapons."
    
    "Can't we just run away?"
    
    "I don't really wanna turn my back on it."
    
    There was a laugh from behind them. They turned their 
    
    heads ever so slightly to see who it was, although they 
    
    could both have had a pretty good guess. It was Pip, Heat 
    
    once more on her shoulder.
    
    "It's easy to see you don't know anything about 
    
    snakes," she said, smirking. "Otherwise you'd know that 
    
    it's just a harmless grass snake." She paused, to let 
    
    them digest this information before continuing. "I see 
    
    you've ditched the dumb thug."
    
    Citras leapt at her angrily, grabbing a large 
    
    stick off the ground and hitting her hard several times, 
    
    before she had a chance to recover. She moved quickly, 
    
    bringing something up in her right hand.
    
    "You've picked the wrong person for a fight, pal." 
    
    She made a swift gesture and the stick was cut neatly in 
    
    two halves. they could then see the rapier in her hand. 
    
    Instead of attacking, she put it neatly away, making a 
    
    show of it, before looking back up at the two hedgehogs. 
    
    "Now, how about telling me where Lena is?"
    
    "Haven't we told you we're not saying?" said Sonic, 
    
    glaring at her furiously; the comment about Earf had got 
    
    right under his skin too.
    
    Surprisingly, Pip sighed and said "Look, I'm sorry 
    
    about what I said about your friend. I've had a bit of a 
    
    bad time, topped off by you lying to me and him trying to 
    
    smash my head in."
    
    Sonic guessed she probably meant it, her personality 
    
    and temprement changes could happen at the drop of a hat, 
    
    but he still wasn't about to tell her where Lena was. Taking 
    
    advantage of Pip's momentery let down of her guard, he yelled 
    
    "Run Citras!" and fled himself.
    
    He ran for a few yards before glancing back to see how 
    
    Citras was doing. To his surprise, he saw that he was lagging 
    
    quite far behind. Obviously he wasn't that good at running 
    
    after all. Almost as if to confirm this, Citras called to him 
    
    "Wait Sonic! I can't run as fast as you!"
    
    Not hesitating, he ran back to his friend, grabbed him 
    
    by his arm and took off running again, his speed carrying 
    
    both of them along. Looking back again, he couldn't see Pip 
    
    anywhere, which wasn't a good sign at all. Still, he took 
    
    it at it's face value, and after running for another few 
    
    miles he stopped and they got their breath back.
    
    "We may as well camp up here for the night," said 
    
    Citras eventually. Sonic nodded.
    
    They settled on sleeping in a tree that night. Not 
    
    that it would be any safer than the ground if Pip did 
    
    come looking for them, in fact it would be perhaps even 
    
    less so, since Pip tended to sleep in trees too, just 
    
    upside-down. But it made them feel safer, which was important.
    
    But unbeknownst to them, it would serve another purpose.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    A beautiful looking lynx lay on a rock high above 
    
    Mobius Grand Canyon, several taller rocks giving it a slight 
    
    shade and coolness against the sweltering heat. She was 
    
    called Lena.
    
    At that moment another creature approached her, 
    
    cautiously, moving through the shadows of over-hanging rocks. 
    
    She didn't bother looking up as she knew who it was. It was 
    
    another android, one of the ones who Citras thought dead, 
    
    a male polecat named Snow.
    
    "You... wanted me?"
    
    Still not looking up, she answered him. "Yes. I need 
    
    you to do something for me. I need you to destroy Citras. He 
    
    is coming to kill me. Now, do you think you can do that?" Her 
    
    voice was sweet, melodic almost. After leaving a gap of 
    
    several seconds, she added "You are still here?"
    
    Snow whipped away without a word. She knew he would do 
    
    what she had asked or die trying. Almost all creatures did 
    
    her bidding or she killed them. They were all so easy to 
    
    manipulate...
    
    "Except Citras," she whispered out loud, and her face 
    
    contorted, as if she was undergoing some inner struggle. 
    
    "Citras, Citras, Citras. Why couldn't you just stay away? 
    
    Don't you understand? She'll kill you..." Her eyes grew 
    
    stony cold once more. "Yes. I'll kill you."
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Sonic and Citras passed an uneventful few days 
    
    progressing in their journey. It was so uneventful they 
    
    began to think that they may have lost Pip and that they'd 
    
    passed all the danger. They were wrong, in both respects.
    
    Pip had merely decided to shadow them until she was 
    
    at least fairly certain of where they were going, and 
    
    danger was almost upon them. In the form of a polecat.
    
    Snow crept quietly along through the bracken. He 
    
    had been looking for hours. He knew that Citras was in 
    
    this area, yet he could not see him. It never occoured 
    
    to Snow to look upwards, into the branches of the trees. 
    
    In his opinion, that was a place for the birds.
    
    As he crunched across the woodland floor, the 
    
    ground suddenly opened up beneath him and, with a howl 
    
    of terror, he plunged downwards, gathering speed as he 
    
    went. It was a long way to the bottom, and when he 
    
    finally hit it, there was no chance of his survival. 
    
    He died, instantly.
    
    Pip, followed as usual by Heat, walked casually 
    
    up to the hole and they both looked down it. In fact, 
    
    hole was the wrong word for it. It was a crevice, a crack 
    
    in the land made long ago and now covered up by moss and 
    
    twigs like the rest of the area. Or rather it had been.
    
    "D'you think he's alive?" asked Heat, craning over 
    
    the edge and almost falling in himself.
    
    "I doubt it. It was a pretty big drop."
    
    "It must have hurt," said Heat, who had managed to 
    
    catch a glimpse of the android and felt a little sick.
    
    "You haven't experienced true pain until you've 
    
    stepped on a plug." Pip shrugged and walked away from 
    
    the hole. It wasn't any of her business if other 
    
    creatures didn't look where they were going.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    The next day Sonic and Citras were up early, 
    
    trudging off once more. They had managed to travel quite 
    
    a few miles the previous days, and they were almost over 
    
    halfway to the canyon.
    
    By midday they had reached the edge of the Great 
    
    Forest, at least in the direction the were headed, and 
    
    their spirits were high. For most of the afternoon they 
    
    walked over a small hilly area, chatting happily.
    
    When it reached evening, they had got to the edge 
    
    of what might be their most challenging stretch yet; the 
    
    Sandblast Desert. it was only a small part of it crossing 
    
    over their path, but they knew why it was called Sandblast.
    
    Sonic and Citras choked and coughed as the wind blew 
    
    the sand into their eyes, noses, ears and mouths. It stung 
    
    them viciously and without mercy. When they dared to open 
    
    their eyes a crack more, they couldn't see more than a few 
    
    inches in front of them, only dark and hazy shapes moving 
    
    around them. Just when they thought the sandstorm was never 
    
    going to end, it finished, as abruptly as it had started.
    
    And they then saw what the dark shapes were.
    
    Beautiful pearly white horses, with long, smokey manes 
    
    and great silver tipped wings folded neatly at their sides. 
    
    Citras felt that the scientist who had created him had been 
    
    wrong: he and the androids were not perfection. They were 
    
    capable of evil like any other creature and, although that 
    
    had been what he had wanted, it did not make them perfect. 
    
    But these... they were perfection. Beautiful, innocent and 
    
    yet powerful.
    
    A horse with a long, spiraling horn on its forehead 
    
    stepped forward, pawing the ground. It was obviously the 
    
    leader. "I am called Decor. We are the Innocens, a race of 
    
    winged horses, Pegasuses. We live in this desert. Tell me, 
    
    who are you and why do you come here?" Its voice was soft 
    
    and gentle.
    
    Quickly, they poured out their story once more, and 
    
    the Innocens listened intently, shaking their heads every 
    
    so often, and stamping on the ground. The two hedeghogs 
    
    found that they did not interupt each other like they had 
    
    done when telling of their journey to Barq and Earf. When 
    
    they had finished, Decor nodded gravely.
    
    "Yes, we have heard of Lena. She tried to cross here 
    
    once, but she could not. We have used equipment all around 
    
    the borders of our area. No creature who has ever killed 
    
    another can cross them. We will gladly help you and speed 
    
    you on your search."
    
    At that moment, another horse, a foal, was nuzzling 
    
    at Decor to get her attention. She looked down to it, 
    
    giving it an affectionate smile. Citras and Sonic realised 
    
    that they were thinking that they wouldn't mind being the 
    
    receiver of that smile in the slightest.
    
    "Yes?"
    
    "There's someone else coming, following the same 
    
    route as the hedgehogs," he said, and despite his youth, 
    
    his voice too had a steady calm about it.
    
    With a tight feeling in the pit of his stomach, Sonic 
    
    slowly turned around. A figure was moving towards them at 
    
    quite a fast pace. He groaned. It was her. "How did you get 
    
    across the borders?" he demanded of Pip.
    
    "I walked. How about you?" said Pip, with her deadly 
    
    pleasantness. Heat snickered.
    
    "You aren't supposed to be able to if you've killed 
    
    someone."
    
    Pip looked hurt. "I've never killed anybody."
    
    Sonic hesitated a second. Come to think of it, he 
    
    couldn't remember her saying that she had. Then a sudden 
    
    recollection came to him. "Didn't you say that you'd got 
    
    that hawk to help you because you'd killed all his enemies?"
    
    Pip looked ever so slightly ashamed. "I... exaggerated 
    
    a little. I just give him a handful of bird seed a day. It's 
    
    hard to chase pigeons when you've got a family to look after, 
    
    like Sharpeye has."
    
    Decor had been looking from Sonic to Citras to Pip and 
    
    back again. When they had finished talking, she spoke. "Is 
    
    this the robot you were telling us about?"
    
    "Yeah."
    
    "Famous already," remarked Pip. Decor nodded her head 
    
    and several of the Innocens moved in front of Pip with fast, 
    
    supple movements, blocking the robot from the hedgehogs and 
    
    herself.
    
    "Quickly," she urged them. "Mount!" They hesitated for 
    
    a moment before clambering onto her back. Somehow it felt 
    
    wrong to do so, like they were using someone's most precious 
    
    object without permission. But she had granted them 
    
    permission to ride her, so they obeyed.
    
    Then she was off, the others following her closely. 
    
    Never had either of the riders experienced such speed. 
    
    They felt sure that they must be going at the speed of 
    
    light they moved so fast and gracefully. Not even Slasher, 
    
    who was the fastest creature Sonic knew, could run like this.
    
    The other horses had left them now. The sand blurred 
    
    past them on either side, then they were half running and 
    
    half flying... Sonic closed his eyes in bliss... and then 
    
    it was over. Decor had slowed to a halt, and they could see 
    
    that they were at the edge of the desert.
    
    They dismounted, and Decor bent down, nuzzling each 
    
    of them in turn with her soft wet nose, leaving a sweet 
    
    tingling feeling behind.
    
    "I must leave you here," she told them. "Farewell, 
    
    my friends and good luck."
    
    She turned and cantered away into the darkness, her 
    
    white coat showing her position until she was out of sight 
    
    and over the horizon. They both sighed deeply, heard each 
    
    other and grinned.
    
    "We'd better get going," said Citras. "We're nearly 
    
    there anyway."
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Lena sat in the dark, thinking. Absentmindedly, she 
    
    brushed one of her long ears back with her exquisite clawed 
    
    hand.
    
    "Come," she said.
    
    Ruby approached her. She was Lena's right hand android, 
    
    a sandy coloured cat with long golden hair and a pretty face. 
    
    But if you could see under it, you would see merely cruelty, 
    
    vanity and greed.
    
    "Snow is dead." Ruby looked taken aback. "He is a fool 
    
    though, and no loss. I suppose I should have sent someone 
    
    with more brains than him to tackle Citras."
    
    "Should I send someone else?"
    
    "No. Don't bother. He'll be here soon anyway, and I 
    
    can deal with him myself."
    
    "Do you think that... wise?"
    
    Lena's eyes flared up and she sprang up, knocking 
    
    Ruby to the ground. "Don't dictate to me! Do you think 
    
    that I can't deal with him?"
    
    "No, no," said Ruby, soothingly.
    
    "To prove to you that I am worth all of you put together, 
    
    leave tonight and I will deal with him on my own, without the 
    
    problem of worrying about you or the other idiots blundering 
    
    in."
    
    "Of course, of course... I'll go and tell them now..." 
    
    Lena let her get up and she bowed hurriedly, then strode 
    
    quickly away, a cruel smile lighting up her face as soon as 
    
    her back was turned. Her plan had worked perfectly. Now 
    
    there was more chance of Citras killing Lena and then there 
    
    would be room for a new leader, a better leader, a more 
    
    cunning and ruthless one... Oh yes, she had plans for herself.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Next morning, and Citras and Sonic were still walking, 
    
    but with a more mechanical motion. They had been walking all 
    
    night, fueled with excitement, but now they were beginning to 
    
    feel the consequences of their action.
    
    They were almost at Mobius Grand Canyon now, and Citras
    
    suggested a rest to get their strength up before tackling Lena. 
    
    Sonic agreed, and they scoped out the nearby land for a 
    
    suitable shelter. They found a small cave, which was only 
    
    still standing because of a blocky support at the entrance.
    
    They stepped inside, checking as they went for any 
    
    unpleasant occupants who might not want to share their 
    
    dwelling with them. Fortunately, there was no-one inside 
    
    and they settled down, unpacking their provisions.
    
    Suddenly, the light was eclipsed. They looked up to 
    
    see a figure standing in the cave mouth. It was hard to see 
    
    who it was because of the glare of the sun behind it, but 
    
    they could easily guess.
    
    "Can't you just leave us alone?" snapped Sonic, but he 
    
    was a little scared. He knew that Pip was blocking their only 
    
    way of escape, and if she meant to attack them there was 
    
    little chance of escaping. How could they have been so 
    
    stupid as to come into the enclosed space?
    
    "Hello to you too," said Pip. "I just thought that 
    
    you'd like to know that I can guess where Lena is from here, 
    
    and now I have no further use for you. Goodbye Sonic and 
    
    M.Perfect Prince Charming."
    
    With one quick movement, she kicked the support, 
    
    knocking part of it out. Sonic and Citras sprang to their 
    
    feet but they were too late. She stepped back and watched 
    
    as the cave collapsed.
    
    "They're not going to be in too good a shape now," 
    
    said Heat, grinning. "A very flat one probably."
    
    Pip grinned at him. "Too true. Now let's go and 
    
    collect our prize, the Gemstone of Oblivion." She walked 
    
    off, whistling loudly and tunelessly.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Citras groaned and felt his head. He had been lucky, 
    
    a large bolder had crashed in front of him, saving him from 
    
    the more punishing rocks as he sheltered behind it. But 
    
    Sonic... what about Sonic? Frantically, he called out for 
    
    his friend. After a few moments Sonic's voice answered him, 
    
    not too far away. He began tunneling towards his voice.
    
    Sonic appeared to have been doing the same thing, 
    
    since they both bumped heads halfway there and sat back. 
    
    They exchanged glances. "Time to be moles."
    
    Citras managed a weak smile. "YOU can be a mole if 
    
    you want. I'LL be a rabbit."
    
    Sonic shrugged. "Whatever." They began to dig.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Lena smiled to herself and walked into one of the more
    
    roomy caves above the Mobius Grand Canyon. In one of her hands, 
    
    almost imperceivably, she held a small dart gun.
    
    The robot bat followed her, her chao at her heels.
    
    "So," she said, still smiling. "What do you want?"
    
    "It's all in the mind."
    
    "Ah. I thought so. You want the Gemstone, correct?"
    
    "Yup."
    
    "I am not going to let you take it. For one thing, I 
    
    doubt very much that you've ever performed legal brain 
    
    surgery, let alone successfully."
    
    "You're an android, it shouldn't hurt you. Much. And 
    
    I promise I won't kill you."
    
    "A robot's promise? And what's that worth?"
    
    Pip looked hurt. "I always keep my promises."
    
    "Especially if it involves death to other creatures," 
    
    remarked Lena, scathingly. "But I return your promise. I will 
    
    not kill you either. Not directly, anyway."
    
    In the blinking of an eye, she had aimed and fired her 
    
    gun. Pip didn't have time to dodge and the dart struck her 
    
    arm, embedding itself into it. Annoyed, Pip pulled it out 
    
    and threw it away.
    
    "And what exactly was that supposed to achieve--" she 
    
    began, but suddenly her machinery gave a warning whine and 
    
    her expression became that of great pain. Yelping, she 
    
    turned and fled from the cave. Heat gave Lena one frightened 
    
    glance before running after Pip.
    
    The look on Lena's face was terrifying.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    "I can see daylight!" exclaimed Sonic. He felt weak 
    
    with relief, just managing to stop himself from laughing 
    
    hysterically. He had hated being trapped under the rocks 
    
    and rubble, and had felt like he was about to go mad any 
    
    second. At least they were out now.
    
    Citras gave him a leg up then Sonic helped him to 
    
    climb out behind him. "There's no point in resting," said 
    
    Citras, when he was out. "We might as well push on after 
    
    all." And he was off before Sonic could stop him.
    
    He had to jog to catch up with him, so determinded 
    
    were his strides. Just as he reached him, he halted. A 
    
    figure had stepped out of the nearby rock hanging to meet 
    
    them.
    
    Whatever Citras had told him about her had done 
    
    nothing to prepare him for this. She was not just beautiful, 
    
    but stunning. He had a vague sense of going into some sort 
    
    of trance. Nothing mattered anymore, he just wanted to be 
    
    here, looking at her forever. He would do anything for her, 
    
    anything at all. Then Citras's voice cut across his thoughts 
    
    and the trance was broken.
    
    "So."
    
    "So, you have come Citras. I always knew that you would 
    
    come eventually. No one had ever been able to resist me."
    
    Citras glared at her contemptuously. "Yeah, right. You 
    
    know why I came here Lena."
    
    "To kill me, yes." She smiled sweetly. "But you don't 
    
    have to. And you certainly don't want to. You used to love 
    
    me..."
    
    "I used to love Lena. Not you."
    
    She laughed. "Have it your way Citras." She stepped 
    
    towards them. "You may have killed Snow, but I am practically 
    
    invincible. You cannot hope to win against me." Sonic had the 
    
    feeling that neither of them was paying any attention to him 
    
    anymore. It felt more like he was eavesdropping on a private 
    
    conversation. "Your robot friend found that out."
    
    "Pip?" said Sonic. "What did you do to her? And she's 
    
    not our friend," he added.
    
    "I have injected a virus into her system," said Lena 
    
    matter-of-factly. "She will die slowly and painfully, each 
    
    of her systems cutting off one at a time. I should imagine 
    
    that she will suffer a great deal." It was the way in which 
    
    she spoke that made it so chilling, Sonic thought. Like it 
    
    was just an interesting plaything, nothing more. As much as 
    
    he disliked Pip, he wouldn't have really wished that upon 
    
    anybody.
    
    Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them, cutting off 
    
    further conversation. "Dang!" Sonic snapped. "Earthquake." 
    
    The ground split open with an ear-splitting cracking sound, 
    
    jagged lines appearing all around them. "Come ON!" Sonic 
    
    called to Citras to follow him: Citras didn't come. Looking 
    
    back, he saw that Lena had fallen down one of the cracks 
    
    and was now clinging to the edge, fear showing clearly in 
    
    her eyes. "CITRAS! Come on, leave her where she is."
    
    Citras looked from Sonic to the scared face below him. 
    
    "Sonic, I think this really might have snapped her out of it."
    
    "Please," moaned Lena. "Please, Citras, help me."
    
    To Sonic's horror, Citras reached out a hand, which 
    
    Lena grasped, firmly. "Thank you..." she began. Then the 
    
    cruel light snapped back on in her eyes and she sneered up 
    
    at him. "...for being so stupid. I've always wanted to do 
    
    that. You are so easily tricked. I could have pulled myself 
    
    up Citras, you know that."
    
    Before Sonic could even make a move towards them, to 
    
    help his friend, Lena had tugged with an unnatural strength, 
    
    pulling Citras over with her. He ran to the edge, but it 
    
    was futile: there was nothing he could do. Lena and Citras 
    
    were falling to their deaths.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Citras slowly lifted his head. He was alive, although 
    
    he wasn't sure how or why. He was lying at the bottom of the 
    
    canyon and the earthquake had stopped now. Lena... he knew 
    
    he must find Lena... There she was, lying still a few feet 
    
    away from him. He couldn't stand, let alone walk, so he 
    
    crawled painfully over towards her.
    
    He gently touched her face and her eyelids flickered 
    
    open. "Citras?..." she whispered. "Where am I? Why does it 
    
    hurt? I don't understand." She sounded bewildered and scared, 
    
    and Citras knew that at last, he was facing the real Lena 
    
    for the first time in years. Her face suddenly creased. "I 
    
    remember... oh Citras, I remember." Tears flowed freely 
    
    down her face, mingling with the dirt. It took him a moment 
    
    to realise that they were joined by other tears: his own.
    
    He put a hand to her brow, stroking her head to 
    
    comfort her. She seemed to be more badly hurt than himself 
    
    even, but she managed to move her hand with tremendous 
    
    effort and pain. She pushed her gun towards him. "Do it," 
    
    she whispered.
    
    "No." He shook his head, ignoring the pain that this 
    
    simple action caused. "I can't."
    
    "You must. The only way that the Gemstone will be 
    
    lost once more is if its owner dies. You know that. It may 
    
    control me again, or another may steal it for their own 
    
    evil. You must do it."
    
    Citras knew that she was right, however much he hated 
    
    to hear those words. Slowly, and with a trembling hand, he 
    
    reached out and took the gun. He bent down, kissing her 
    
    forehead. They stayed like that for a while, his hand 
    
    caressing her brow. Then, holding out his unsteady hand, 
    
    he fired.
    
    The sound of the shot echoed off the canyon walls. 
    
    Citras looked at Lena's face. She wore a smile of pure 
    
    happiness. "At peace," she whispered to him, softly. Then 
    
    she died, her eyes glazing over above her now peaceful 
    
    complexion. The pain flowed back through Citras's head and 
    
    he slid to the canyon floor. His own eyelids closed.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    Citras was aware of voices right next to him, that he 
    
    was in a different position than he had been in before and 
    
    he could feel a strange sensation. His eyelids felt too 
    
    heavy to open, so he just lay there listening.
    
    "And then I blew the whistle to call you here. I don't 
    
    know why I didn't think of it before, I guess I was just 
    
    too... I thought we could handle it all. Or," the voice 
    
    which he guessed was Sonic's, in a sudden burst of 
    
    embarrassed honesty. "I just DIDN'T think." there was a 
    
    pause, then "Will he be okay Slash?"
    
    "He doesn't look too badly off considering the fall 
    
    he's had. I suppose he was built to last." Slasher, he 
    
    supposed. Which must mean that the strange sensation was 
    
    flying. He was safe. They were going home. He drifted 
    
    out of consciousness once more, satisfied that 
    
    everything would be okay now that Slasher was there to 
    
    take charge of the situation.
    
     
    
    ***
    
     
    
    In the Great Forest, below where Slasher was flying,
    
    a figure appeared, glowing white for a moment. She had just 
    
    teleported there using the Gemstone of Hope about her neck. 
    
    It had not been intentional, she had just been teleporting 
    
    anywhere to get away. All her systems were malfunctioning 
    
    and she couldn't do anything to stop it. A red chao trotted 
    
    along behind her, looking anxious.
    
    "They're all going to regret this," she snarled, 
    
    under her breath. "Sonic, Citras, Lena, all of them." She 
    
    contorted in pain, trying to pretend it wasn't there at 
    
    the same moment.
    
    A second later, her legs gave way under her, and 
    
    she slumped against a tree, her eyes snapping off, looking 
    
    for all the world like she was dead.
    
     
    
    The End (for now)


End file.
